Writing Majors Have Options

Dan Michniewicz
11/16/08

After my internship as a technical writer, I’ve come to a few conclusions about my education and my potential careers in the field of writing. First and foremost, I used the word careers because I fully expect to have a lot of them. Although technical writing is probably one of the most suitable careers for someone with my schooling – I’m a writing major with a computer science minor - and I liked the work well enough during my internship, I feel that with my skill set and choice of major I’ve got a lot of options after I graduate. I’m also not to certain that I will enter the work force right after I graduate from Grand Valley as I have yet to rule out graduate school.

I have jack-of-all-trades mentality when it comes to my interests and hobbies and I fully expect that to translate into my professional life as well. Some of the possible career paths that I may pursue are technical writing, teaching, and journalism. I also look forward to the different kinds of environments that I will have the option to work in. With a writing degree, I expect to not be restricted to specific geographic locations or working environments (academia, business, etc.) as writing is a skill that is beneficial for any job. I feel like I hear the saying “love what you do” a lot but I feel like when I search for my first job I will try as best I can to find a job – “doing what I love”. As far as journalism goes I think that would be an area that would suit me well. I have an interest in both sports and current events so if I could write about either of those, I would be doing something I would consider fun. I’ve recently applied for a job at the Lanthorn and if I do land a job there, I may try to get another internship this summer at a newspaper. I feel like having experience writing in different environments and to different audiences would help me in the future. If I was to become an educator, I would definitely be attending graduate school. If I don’t enter the exact field of technical writing, I could still utilize my knowledge of technology and write about it in an academic or journalistic environment.

Regarding my aspirations to either enroll in graduate school or even the Peace Corps, I feel that my writing experiences be beneficial in those situations also. I think the idea that my ability to write would help me in graduate school is a given. The Peace Corps application consists of a few essays, but also if I was in a different country and culture for over two years, I imagine that would be something that I would want to chronicle. Even though I’m not all that big on creative writing I think that would be a good time.

For the very near future I’ve decided that I’m probably going to look for some real work. This summer I might have the opportunity to work for Siemens again but out of Ann Arbor which, as crazy as it sounds, I would actually prefer over Southern California. If I do get the job at the Lanthorn, or even if I don’t, I might try to get an internship or part-time job at the Grand Rapids Press, Ann Arbor News, or any newspaper or periodical.

To sum up my state of mind I’m really not sure what the future holds for me but I plan on trying some more fields. I feel that as writing majors, we have a real opportunity to, like I said before, “do what we love,” so I plan on using that opportunity to find something that I could try to do every single day.

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